Conventional refrigerator cabinets include vertical sidewalls and horizontal insulated wall separating a freezer compartment from a fresh food compartment. The freezer compartment is provided with an upper door and the fresh food compartment is provided with a lower door. The door must span the full width of the cabinet. Therefore, the weight of the door is directly related to the cabinet width. Torsional forces produced on the cabinet by the door can cause twisting of the cabinet which may result in damage. The likelihood of such problems increases with the us of plastic liners in the refrigerator which provide less rigidity than porcelain on steel liners.
One solution to the above problem is disclosed in Jenkins et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,470 which uses mounting bars mounted in the cabinet front face flange. Specifically, the mounting bars are fastened to the cabinet using screws which pass through apertures in the front flange. Such a construction results in fasteners protruding from the face of the cabinet, resulting in a less than desirable construction from an aesthetic standpoint.
The present invention overcomes the above problems of prior refrigerator cabinets, in a novel and simple manner.